Posts Tagged ‘sweaters’

I’ve been getting TONS of requests for custom work in the last few months. Part of that is because the Custom Handknit Sweaters page managed to get to the number one position in google for any related search terms. I know that’s a good thing but I just can’t knit that fast 🙂

The Mohair Vest:

I had a friend bring me a bag of various mohair yarns from a yard sale and ask me what I could do with them. It was a wonderful challenge because she knows what to wear and always looks so fabulous in everything. There was only enough for a vest so we agreed upon a great design by Sally Melville “The Asymmetrical Vest” from her book The Knitting Experience: Book 1: The Knit Stitch.
I liked the pattern but it was written for beginning beginners and there was just so much text to read every time there was a direction to follow. I found it confusing and had trouble keeping my place. Just my personal preference, I would choose a graphic pattern every time to knit from.
I used 2 strands of the mohair together and the suggested needles. The biggest issue with this vest was the ends every time I changed colour. I tried weaving them in and found it was going to be very difficult to hide them so I just started knitting them in where ever I could and it seemed to work better. I had to be very careful with blocking. It could change in either width or length with a light pull when wet. It took a while to get it into the correct shape to dry. The wooden buttons really worked out well. Marilyn just loved it.

The Harry Potter Sweater “Weasley”

I’m using Knit Picks Wool of the Andes for this sweater. I will knit the body and add the initial in duplicate stitch at the end. I will avoid intarsia at all costs, just a personal “thing” with me.
I started this by knitting a good big swatch that gave me a gauge of 18 sts x 24 rows = 4″ before wash and block. It grew when wet and I thought it might stay there but it bounced right back when it dried.
The pattern gauge is 16×24 so I had to adjust the number of sts to cast on. I actually need 37.5 for 4 inches of ease so decided to cast on the adult medium 82 sts plus 2 selvage sts.
So far this is a great meditative knit. 25 ” of straight st st for the back. OMmmmmm.

One of the things I really enjoyed doing this summer was beta testing an awesome new online software for sweater design. Amy Herzog a Fit and Flatter expert and sweater designer “extraordinaire” has come up with something really new and wonderful for all knitters who want a custom fit sweater without all of the math that is usually involved in designing from scratch or even customizing the fit of a purchased pattern.

The software is called Custom Fit and its available online to a select few premier users right now but is expected to go live to the public some time in October.

Here’s what Amy says about Custom Fit:

“After the final preview group, with an estimated time of mid-October, CustomFit will go live to everyone.

CustomFit is a web application. This means that you log into our website to create custom sweater patterns. It is not software you install on your computer.
Creating an account, and storing body measurements and swatches, is and always will be free. When you’re ready to knit the most fabulous sweater ever, each one is just $9.99.
CustomFit has a vast amount of fit expertise built-in, so that you don’t need to think about any numbers – only style! But if you do want to adjust your own numbers, you have the option of doing so before you purchase your pattern.
The first release of CustomFit produces an entirely new sweater pattern to your specifications, at a single gauge for the entire sweater. Future versions will give you more options, including modifying select existing sweater patterns. We plan to update CustomFit with great new features every few months.”

I had this lace pattern brewing in my imagination for a while and thought I’d try it out on my beta sweater. I loved adding the little birds randomly. I will be designing a very similar sweater pattern from scratch and grading it for all women’s sizes this winter. Watch my pattern store here and on Ravelry and Craftsy.

I spun this yarn for a customer in DK (3 Light) weight from some lovely moorit or brown shetland wool. It was spun from a combed preparation and I pulled off several staple lengths and held them folded over my finger. Spinning from the fold with a long draw and a very light touch, gave me a wonderfully airy and bouncy yarn that is not too fuzzy. I think it’s the best way to spin this wool for knitting. It will last a very long time, it is more consistant and will show the stitch definition much better than a true woolen yarn but has all of the bounce and airy lightness of a woolen yarn. This method will also keep the wool from pilling as much … if at all. While the wool of the Shetland Sheep is not as “next to the skin” soft as the Merino and others like Polwarth and Corriedale, many wool lovers not only like to wear Shetland wool but prefer it to it’s softer and less robust peers. Many use the finer Shetland for next to the skin wear and even for baby things.

The Shetland is a small sheep originating in the Shetland Isles. When the Rare Breeds Survival Trust was set up in the 1970′s The Shetland was considered a Rare Breed and was listed with them as Category 2 – Endangered. Since that time the Shetland has become more popular with many smaller farms and has graduated to Category 6 – Other Native Breeds. This is excellent news for us as spinners.
The Shetland produces a variety of characteristics in it’s wool from the superfine wool from around the neck area that is chosen for Shetland lace shawls to the sturdier wool for use in garments that are made to last for many years. Shetland sheep are also very well know for the variety of shades and natural colours in which their fleece will grow. The Shetland sheep is hardy, adaptable and long-lived. Their wool has been used, traditionally, in fine shawls and Fair Isle knitting patterns.

A few months ago I shared the pattern for the Hat my guys like and now here is the sweater that falls into that same category. With lots of input from DH, the eventual wearer of this pullover, I designed another sweater to match the one I knit him almost 30 years ago. Not only did the original sweater last for 30 years, but hardly a day went by that it was not called into service (except those hot summer days, of course) and it’s still all in one piece even if it is showing a little wear now.

As you can imagine, I’ve knit him a few sweaters over the years and some he wears a little and some he wears a lot. This is the one he hardly ever takes off! When the boys come in and see his newest sweater they want one too. I’m going to have lots of opportunity to knit this one in several sizes and variations and will keep you posted.

Here is the story of spinning the yarn for Jacob from a Jacob fleece and another short post with a few more pictures. Pattern coming asap. I will have to knit it at least one more time as I want to show the body with a simple rib instead of the colour variegation.

The sweater now has a name. It will be called Jacob. I will probably do a pattern for it after I’ve knit it in another colour pattern for variety.

I’ve had quite a few orders for handspun yarns so the knitting is coming along rather slowly. I’m at the neck shaping.
We tried it on and it’s within an inch of exact measurements which makes me very happy. That can definitely be worked out with washing and blocking.

Choosing a fleece with contrasting colours. This one has just black and white in what seems to be equal parts – that’s very dark brown and cream, of course

The testing and planning for this project may just be the most fun part. I have now washed, carded or combed, spun and knit swatches (or small projects) from 4 of my stashed fleeces. I’ve been working with the multi coloured fleeces this time because I wanted some colour texture in my sweater. This one is a Jacob from Great Britain. It’s for Earl.
I considered my choices for working with the stark contrast of the colours in this fleece. I could do a relatively homogeneous blending for a smooth mottled look, I could keep the colour separate and ply a white with a black for a ragg look, or I could try to keep the colours separate and use them to form some kind of colour pattern. I decided on the later and choose a random colour pattern as I felt it would be closest to the true nature of the fleece as it appeared on the sheep’s back. There are lots of grey fleeces out there, why make this one look like them? In order to keep the colours separate they had to be plyed by the Navajo method. This produces a 3 ply yarn. I made mine a worsted weight (4 Medium) about 35 yards/ ounce and about 9-10 WPI. Although I love to card or comb by hand, I do use my roving carder for larger project where I really want to get on with the task of knitting it so that is how I’ve been preparing this one for spinning. I knew I had to be careful with any stark white areas as they would pop out visually so most of the white has some degree of black mixed in. Each time I load the carder it has some of each colour. It is in the carding, to a degree, but more so in the separating and arranging of the bats for spinning that the “painting” of the colour pattern takes place. I’ve been knitting each ball as it comes from the spinning wheel so that I have a feel for how I want the next colour pattern to work out. Updates Here